Description

Baseball wasn’t always played on an even playing field. When Buck O’Neil started his baseball career in the 1930s, African Americans weren’t allowed to play in the major leagues. Buck started in the Negro Leagues, where he played first base and coached the Kansas City Monarchs, appeared in three All-Star Games, and won a World Series.

In 1962, Buck became the first African American coach in major league baseball. As a scout and a coach in the major leagues, he helped players reach their full potential. He told people about the Negro Leagues and helped start the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. As an ambassador for baseball, Buck devoted his life to helping other players achieve greatness and promoting the game he loved.

This book is included in the nonfiction book series, Notable Missourians, for young readers in grades 4 to 6 about people who contributed to Missouri’s history or culture and who were born or lived in Missouri.

Contents

IntroductionChapter 1: Growing Up in FloridaChapter 2: Becoming a Baseball PlayerChapter 3: Great Years with the MonarchsChapter 4: War and New OpportunitiesChapter 5: Baseball’s Great AmbassadorLegacy: Remembering BuckTimelineFor Further ReadingIndex Image Credits

Authors

Jeff Gall received his PhD in history from the University of Missouri. A former high school teacher in Lee’s Summit, he teaches history and trains future history teachers at Truman State University.

Micah Gall received his undergraduate degree at Truman State University and his MA in English from the University of Missouri St. Louis. He teaches and serves as chair of the English Department at Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis.

John Hare is an illustrator, graphic designer and artist. He lives in Gladstone, Missouri.

"The Beginner’s Cow: Memories of a Volga German from Kansas" by Loren Schmidtberger— At the age of seven, Loren Schmidtberger was assigned to a beginner’s cow—the gentlest cow in the herd and the easiest for a child just beginning to milk. As he learned to milk with the help of the cow, he also learned the art of living from the unforgiving reality of the Dust Bowl years tempered by the steadfast resilience of his Volga German community.